


Mako Eyes

by shiny_glor_chan



Category: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VII (Video Game 1997)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Community: mako_reactor, F/M, Flashbacks, M/M, Multi, Nightmares, Sector 5 church, Soft Feels, Zack Fair Lives
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2006-09-13
Updated: 2006-09-13
Packaged: 2021-03-06 00:02:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 843
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25804084
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shiny_glor_chan/pseuds/shiny_glor_chan
Summary: Nightmares plague Zack as he wakes up to the aftermath of the ordeal of his escape from Shinra.
Relationships: Aerith Gainsborough/Cloud Strife, Zack Fair/Aerith Gainsborough, Zack Fair/Aerith Gainsborough/Cloud Strife, Zack Fair/Cloud Strife
Kudos: 16
Collections: Square Enix Fandoms





	Mako Eyes

**Author's Note:**

> (Part of a series.)
> 
> Themes: Life + 7, Hand + 30, Smile + 33, Unsettling + 81, Escape + 95

_**“Normal members of SOLDIER are humans that have been showered with Mako...”** _

_Curious. “Normal members of SOLDIER? You mean you're different?”_

_**Tremble. Pain. ‘Help...’** _

_“H... hey, Sephiroth!”_

_**“N... no... ...Was I?”** _

_**Slash.** _

_**“...Was I created this way too?”** _

_**Slash.** _

_**“Am I the same as all these monsters...”** _

_Interrupts. "...Sephiroth."_

_**Slash. Slash. Slash. ...heave...** _

_**“You saw it! All of them... were humans...”** _

_“Human? No way!”_

_**“...I've always felt since I was small... That I was different from the others. Special, in some way. But... not like this...”** _

* * *

Zack jolted awake, cringing in pain from the combination of the unsettling nightmare and the pain in his chest that he found was slowly fading. He looked down to see Aeris knelt down beside him, healing his wounds. The cool healing breeze washed over him, the pain washing away with it.

“Aeris...?” he questioned as he took in his surrounding; he was in the broken down church Aeris loved so much.

Aeris wiped a cloth over his forehead, wiping away the sweat that had gathered there. “You’ve been restless in your sleep. Nightmares?” she asked, knowing the answer.

Zack nodded as his thoughts cleared. “Cloud! Where’s Cloud?” he asked frantically, and Aeris placed a hand on his shoulder to calm him.

“The blond boy? He’s fine; he just overexerted himself,” Aeris gave Zack a reassuring smile. “He just needs to rest.”

Zack relaxed a bit. “Can I see him?” he asked and Aeris shook her head, a stern look spreading over her face.

“I don’t know what you two have gotten yourselves into, and I probably don’t want to know,” Aeris paused, giving Zack a pointed look before continuing, “but you’re only alive by luck. If Cloud had passed out a few seconds earlier...”

Zack frowned as Aeris trailed off. “Aeris, we escaped Shinra. We’re alive, and it may be by luck, but we’re _alive_...”

Aeris cut him off by pushing him back to the ground. “And you’re going stay _alive_ if you listen to _me_ ,” she said with finality in her tone.

Zack sighed and closed his eyes, a grin on his face. “Yeah, yeah. My life is in your hands, babe,” he teased as he felt Aeris cast sleep upon him. “Hey, no fair...” he trailed off as he fell into restful sleep.

“If I had known it be that easy to get him to shut up, I would have done it years ago...” Cloud muttered from behind Aeris causing her to turn around.

“You’re awake? Already? You should sleep a little more...” Aeris trailed off.

Cloud paused. “...it’s okay, I wasn’t in as bad a shape as Zack was...” he stated as he sat next the dark haired ex-SOLDIER, stroking his hair. “You know, we’re running from Shinra... It’s not safe to stay with us...”

“So?” Aeris asked pointedly, causing Cloud's hand to still in Zack’s hair.

“You could be targeted because of us. Look what Shinra’s already done to us,” Cloud stated, his mako glowing eyes looking straight at Aeris.

Aeris focused on Cloud’s eyes, wondering how someone she knew had only been a Private in the army had such intense mako eyes. “Your eyes... Is that part of what Shinra did to you...?” she asked, a bit timidly.

Cloud looked away from Aeris, suddenly his shyness coming back in waves. “Yeah, and they shot Zack how many times before they thought he was dead? And they left me for dead thinking I was so out of it from the mako that I’d die on that cliff with him.”

Aeris was left speechless. She had no idea how to comfort this person in front of her she barely knew but felt she should, from all the stories Zack had told her of this boy. She put her hand on his shoulder. “Hey, get a little more rest. When Zack wakes up, there’ll be no rest for either of us.”

Cloud smiled a little at what she said and nodded. “Yeah...” He was about to get up when she stopped him.

“Stay here, I know there really isn’t anywhere comfortable to sleep in this church, but I think Zack would be happy to wake up with you sleeping by his side,” Aeris said with a smile.

Cloud blushed as he settled next to Zack, but Zack, even in his sleep, had other ideas. Zack pulled him in so Cloud’s head would rest on his shoulder. Cloud blushed harder, trying to struggle out of his grasp but soon gave in when he felt Zack’s grip tighten.

Aeris giggled as she settled on the other side of Zack. “Good night, Cloud,” she whispered as she snuggled into Zack’s side, his arm unconsciously pulling her in as well.

“...good night, Aeris.” Cloud whispered, finally accepting his fate that Zack would never let him go. Cloud had a sneaking suspicion that Aeris held on to people just as tightly as Zack was holding onto him in that moment.

A smile made its way onto Zack’s face as he held onto two of the people he cared about most.


End file.
